The Byakugan Introspection
by Kriste-chan
Summary: Sometimes, eavesdropping can lead to good things. NejiTen
1. Chapter 1

**The Byakugan Introspection  
**Kriste-chan

**Disclaimer:** Never and will never own it. The things that I do own are my brain and this fiction. Unfortunately.

Their age? How about 25?

* * *

Hyuuga Neji was known throughout Konoha as a Byakugan expert—the only living person from a Hyuuga branch family who could use it tremendously to his own advantage.

From that darned pair of eyes that could scare the living hell out of anyone, he could see through anything—far beyond the reaches of the naked human eye. He could tell the difference between black and white, differentiate truths from falsities, exempted from the color blindness thing, and more importantly, distinguish a really hot chic from that Kyuubi boy's Sexy-jutsu. There were actually more things to it but to make things plainer, Hyuuga Neji could see through anything. Yes, _anything_. Except, probably, one thing...

And this time, he couldn't blame it on his blind spot.

One unusually boring day, Neji decided to walk around the surrounding woods of Konoha. He was walking and going around in a sense that he had a bunch of kunai in his hands and he was basically dodging and aiming for leaves that fell after kicking an innocent tree. Needless to say, after pinning down a pile of them in a formation that suggested he was bored to death and he was too good to practice with falling leaves, he noticed that the once blue horizons that hovered above his Konoha was suddenly covered by tuffs of nimbuses.

Then a drop of rain fell on his nose.

He blinked, a little startled, until his skin finally felt an army of water droplets drizzling right above him.

It took him three to four beats before he blinked again and then frowned; finally deciding that this unusually boring day was more than he could take. It was deliberate. It looked like he, Hyuuga Neji, had been fated to live out this hated day in deep slumber. Even the thought of meditating in this... unusual day seemed dull and dreary and was apt to shred his prided ingenious mind if he didn't do _something_. Sleeping on the other hand was an entirely different matter to fuss about...

"Well I'm sure you could do better than sleep all day!"

He immediately halted; veins protruding on his head's skin. He didn't know how the seemingly haughty speaker found out about his thoughts. Much to his dismay though, when he turned around to face the insulter, there was no one to practice his Jyuuken on.

Boredom was really seeping into his cranial nerves.

"You call THAT training?" Sounds of clashing metal were heard in between heated retorts. From the deadly missile-like intensity of insults shooting out from that person's mouth, Neji could only ponder why _her_ blasts of insults were significantly familiar up to a point that he could basically picture her grinning with an eyebrow raised. "Come on! If you couldn't handle Taijutsu-based attacks, how are you supposed to take on the strongest?"

Neji fought the urge to listen but failed.

"Even the strongest person would conquer the odds to fulfill the dreams of their youthful soul." Came an eerily familiar line; this time, it was uttered by a male, "The raging fire within a youth would spring into life if motivated. Who would I dare challenge for such honor?"

The girl merely obliged without a change in tone, "Well, for starters... and if you could convince him, which I highly doubt..." punch, kick, kick, duck, swish, "Hyuuga Neji."

Neji, seriously, wanted to scoff but settled on raising an eyebrow.

After seconds of digging deeply into his thoughts, he finally realized the reason why and _why_ did it sound so utterly familiar considering that he had spent years of training with those two in the past. Wanting to keep a safe distance to avoid being noticed, he gathered up a good amount of chakra, leapt off towards a tree branch and settled on it as he usually does; activating his Byakugan in the whole process to spy—well, he amended, watch his teammates, Tenten and Rock Lee, train from afar.

"Ah... Of course... How could I forget Hyuuga Neji-kun the genius?" said Lee, shielding an arm to block off Tenten's hand attacks and ducking around to avoid the horrifying display of armory being hurled at him.

Tenten smiled smugly at her sparring partner. "Maybe because his most august Jounin presence had been missing for a year due to a mission and you just got used to the fact that it'd be just you, Gai-sensei and me training around." She pulled her hurricane tactic, making Lee's eyes bulge all the more than it already was.

The poor guy managed an audible "Eek!" as he ducked, rolled, jumped, leapt and ran together with the whole acrobatic package for the sake of coming out alive and lacerated-throat-free. When the whirlwind of weapons stopped its deadly mambo-jambo, Tenten merely flashed an innocent smile at the victim who was panting for his very life. "Oh dearest youthful flower of Team Gai! Wait 'til our very own Gai-sensei hears the news about how you've honed your skills! He'd be proud of you!" fake sunset background with waterfall tears streamed in.

The woman landed gracefully with a bead of sweat trailing down her head, "You really have to call me that..." she said, then abruptly went serious, "And may I remind you that you're the one who wanted to spar with me."

Lee's lachrymal duct spurted an abnormal downpour of tears. "And you've proven to me that I still have to train harder!"

Tenten half smiled as he walked towards Lee's crouched form. "Well," she said, crouching down in front of him to affix a smug yet sisterly kind of smile that beamed her respect for the guy. "It all comes down to hard work, Lee." she fondly poked his forehead. "And if I'm really determined to be as good as Tsunade-sama, then I have to give it my best shot."

From the looks of things, Neji could tell that she was proud of Lee and his progress. Tenten was the kind of a person who would say a thing and really mean every letter that comprises it down to the core. Not only that, Hyuuga Neji also realized that it actually took him a year in a Jounin mission before the thought actually dawned upon him: that his teammate had somewhat... changed from the mental images he had of her. She was taller now; grown out of the pink sleeveless Chinese collar top she wore, put on a few curves in all the right places, and heck, he would be lying if he didn't admit that she had grown quite... interesting. Beautiful, to put it bluntly.

_But she was still his teammate—his partner. _And that, in Neji's opinion, said it all. Well, partly at least. In that cluttered and padlocked deepest recesses of his mind, he had always regarded her highly for working hard if she wanted to achieve something. She gives her all in everything she does and she, along with a hand-counted few, could still surprise him and his Byakugan pretty well. And he couldn't say he didn't respect her tremendously for that.

"Come on, Lee." She smiled, "Give me your best shot and then we'll rest up for a while."

Between this and that, a smile tugged at Neji's lips without him really realizing it. The mere fact that he just witnessed Tenten's perseverance and affection for their seemingly worthless teammate just touched something in him. It was perhaps the weirdest feeling that he could feel for her but—the smile faded into his normally reaction-less face—no one had really done this to him since... well, no one had really done that to him in the first place.

And he couldn't decide if he should hate Tenten for it or not.

Ten minutes later Neji noticed that the drizzle of rain falling over the woods of Konoha had begun to splash out in bigger droplets. And along with the harmonious sound of water falling over leaves and branches was Lee's continuous howl of excruciating pain after receiving several blows from Tenten's Soushouryuu.

Neji, to say the least, wasn't even tempted to jump out and help him back to the village for treatment. It was his idiocy that led him into this kind of situation anyway.

"I have to turn your offer down, youthful flower of team Gai..." Said Lee, firmly; posing in with that pinging killer smile of a valiant hero who would rather die than to let a lady carry him back to the village. This was enforced with the fact that said lady was also the cause of his broken bones and was revealed to be totally and extremely universes away from their basic D-I-D (damsel-in-distress) material. Tenten, on the other hand, sweat dropped. "I just need to rest around for a short while before I can walk with ease back to the village."

Tenten snorted, "I didn't know you could be as stubborn as a pig." She said, "Well, anyway, rain's coming down pretty hard any moment..." she sat on the adjacent side of the tree and leaned her back against the trunk, closing her eyes to rest for a bit, "But I guess you do need to rest before you can drag yourself back there."

Lee only chuckled.

A moment of silence passed, until Neji felt the sudden pang of boredom creeping in yet again. The only thing that preoccupied his mind was the unintentional "entertaining" game of tug-o'-war going around his head: weighing the pull on whether he should just get up and leave them since eavesdropping—he amended, listening to them would be pointless because they weren't talking anyway; or give into his whim to wait a bit longer. Fortunately, Lee's yawning and talking suddenly made him pull towards the wait-a-bit option—like for a full minute in case they don't talk about something that could push the living hell of boredom immigrating in him.

"Tenten..." called out Lee; his tone promising something smart, interesting and something that was totally... un-Lee.

"Hm?"

Neji listened and counted from sixty back to fifty.

"What time is it?"

A vein popped on Neji's head as he continued his countdown. He should've known better than to expect something more from him.

"Four... I think." Answered Tenten; looking a bit disappointed. "Time does pass slowly on a boring day like this... no missions... no Gai-sensei..." And by this time, Neji was preparing to jump out and walk back to Konoha village like nothing had happened. He had better things to do than to listen to his teammates babble about the time and, if he was lucky enough, the obviously drizzling weather that was as cheerful as hell. Sleeping was one fine example of better things to do. At least it would recharge his body's chakra.

"Hmm..." Lee uttered, as if considering an idea. "You 'think'?"

An audible sigh of exasperation, "Of course I do. That's the purpose of having a brain, baka." Said Tenten, unmoving to neither look nor pound her teammate like a malleable tin can. Then, she opened an eye, curiously, in an almost silent kind of way. "Why did you ask?"

"Oh, I was just wondering..." Lee scratched his chin, "Do you get to think about time too whenever you're out training with Neji?"

Tenten opened her other eye in surprise while Neji clung hard on the branch and stopped himself from leaping down. He didn't know why but something about Lee's tone implied that he should listen to what he's about to say. He cursed himself. It wasn't his nature to spy on his friends at all. Why did he have to be so curious whenever... touchy things like that get in the way?

He sighed in defeat and thought that boredom was apt to hurt him more than the extra minute he would spend.

"Well..." Neji witnessed how Tenten's face switched to thinking, "I also get to think about time..."

"But?" Unintentionally, Lee voiced out Neji's thoughts.

"But..." she repeated, a light smile touching her lips, "I just noticed that it goes by faster when I'm with him."

Lee leaned forward to peek on Tenten's face with a curious smiling glance. "Uh-huh..." he sat back, sounding all too satisfied with the thing that he saw, and then closed his eyes. "So... you get bored when you're training with me?"

"..." thought Neji. For some reasons, watching Tenten sharpen her weapons was more interesting than to do sparring with Lee—not that he'd ever watched her do it in a uniquely precise and poised manner before and after training; or how well she manages her time by doing something productive when she's got nothing else to do. Or, whenever she decided to hang around with him, he always noticed how she fiddled with her sharpened kunai...

Well alright, he does watch her every now and then. And believe him; it's more interesting than doing a spar with Lee.

"Perhaps." Tenten answered. Neji's Byakugan, on the other hand, was now screaming something that he wanted to know but he _shouldn't_ know at all about his only sane teammate. "But don't take it badly, Lee. I enjoy training with you since you're always up for a good but pitiful warm-up exercise."

"Hah!" he exclaimed confidently, "Pitiful now but I promise you," Lee raised a hand up to fortify his promise; "I will get stronger like Gai-sensei!" pinging smile.

"Yeah, yeah... whatever..." Tenten waved a hand comically, and then abruptly smiled seriously. "But as you all know... I can never do that to Neji-san—even with his Byakugan deactivated." she said, "But he cannot do that to me as well because I somehow improve as he improves." She stopped at an afterthought and then let out a light chuckle, "or he was just being too easy on me."

Damn straight. The one thing that Neji admired most in Tenten was her ability to cope up with whatever situation she was in. From the time that she got beaten by that Sand punk Temari, he knew she vowed to herself that she would get stronger than ever. Her persistence and determination told him just that and anyone who disagreed with the fact that Tenten had improved more than anyone could ever expect would suffer Hyuuga Neji's wrath.

As he had learned a long time ago, people weren't limited to their fate alone. If they make a move to maneuver it and twist it to their liking, then changing it wouldn't be as impossible as it always seemed.

"And by that," Lee woke Neji up from his musings, "I have concluded that you really appreciate Neji-kun."

Tenten nodded. "I'm not denying that."

Lee nodded too, "You appreciate him more than anything else."

"I really do."

"You really, really, really appreciate him a lot."

Another nod.

"Because you like him and you're starting to fall in love with him."

"I won't deny—" she stopped; eyes twitching.

Although Neji's face carried on the emotions of a rock, the sight of a really, really irritated Tenten pounding the protégé of their sensei stirred a somewhat surprised reaction in him. It wasn't because he thought that the blow must've hurt a lot, well, partly of course, but it's just that he never thought that she would react so... guiltily over things like _that_. It wasn't her fault that she sort of... slipped off... to begin with.

Still, he couldn't help but think. _Did she really mean it?_

When things calmed down a little, Lee stood up and grinned at her sparring mate. "But honestly," he said with mischief blaring in his round eyes; forcing in her his sparkling killer smile. Tenten looked about ready to give him one until his perfect set of teeth we're either reduced to half or ready to be picked up by the tooth fairy in exchange for a few yen. "Are you really denying the fact that you're falling for the young Hyuuga genius?"

Tenten was already aiming a kunai towards Lee's throat.

"I stand by my question." Uttered Lee; valiantly imitating Maito Gai in his usual "role model" speech and other what-the-hell orations stance. Otherwise, it was just a stubborn I-will-not-stop-until-I-get-what-I-want kind of situation and he had all the determination to pull it off through wire or fire.

Tenten glared at him fiercely, "And I stand by the sharpness of my kunai that I will kill you if you don't stop nosing around."

An out-stare-me joust ensued.

Several seconds later, Neji felt the urge to leap off, knock some sense within his teammates' heads and force them to hurry up. Although lagging behind the point of uncertainty and denial, Neji had grudgingly admitted that he found it... interesting... to know whether Tenten really liked him more than admiration or not.

His defensive side was dictating, however, that Sakura's hints and Hinata's occasional slip-of-tongue was already getting on his head without him really noticing it. He blamed THAT on them. It WAS the thing that intrigued him to the point of "overhearing" Lee and Tenten's conversation even if he knew darn well that Tenten wasn't the person to preach about her emotions. On the other hand, if the reason was otherwise, he can consider the thought that there were just some things that he failed to notice even with his Byakugan glaring at each direction.

He didn't want to believe the latter but nevertheless, he WILL find out.

Tenten threw her kunai half-heartedly, merely missing Lee's throat by a millimeter. "You know me damn well..."

Inwardly, Lee sighed in total relief before flashing his sparkling, toothy smile. "All it takes is a yes or a no, Tenten." he said, "Are you denying the fact that you actually like—and I mean really, really _like_— the great Hyuuga Neji-kun because it is the truth and nothing but the truth?"

For the last time, Tenten glared at Lee with all her might. "You're really choked up about this aren't you?"

Lee tsked disapprovingly, "Yes or no, my beautiful Tenten."

Silence. And then an audible sigh was heard.

"Yes or no, huh?" she paused. And then, Neji—through a breathless moment—witnessed how a smile found its way on Tenten's lips, "... No."

Lee broke into a wide grin. Neji almost fell from where he perched himself.

"No, as in..." she continued, making Neji pay full attention with both brows drawing in to meet, "I don't have to deny it because it's not the truth."

Lee's grin broke into a frown. Neji was somewhat... disappointed, to say the least. Not that he cared or anything.

"Look Lee," she let out another audible sigh; as if preparing for a lecture engineered exactly for extremely dumb kids who didn't even know what a kunai's pointy edge was for. "Neji-kun is... a likeable person behind his placidly emotionless persona. He's the most confident person that I've ever met and..." a smile formed on her lips, "Instead of being intimidated by it, I find his confidence rather... infectious whenever he's around."

Lee propped his chin against his knuckles. "And your point is?"

Tenten sighed hopelessly, "The POINT is..." she said, as if explaining to a kid that the pointy end goes through the enemy, "It's not what you think and it goes the other way around."

"And what IS the other way around?" Lee asked persistently.

"That I don't actually _like _Neji-san."

Lee's lips further curved downwards. "Come on! Stop denying it!"

"Believe what you want." She said, dismissively; positioning herself comfortably against the tree with both hands behind her head. "I just told you the gist of it and that's that."

"Stop denying it." Said Lee, persuasively.

"I'm not."

"Come on."

"No."

"Tell me."

"Shoo."

"If you don't, I'll tell every person in Konoha that you're denying it."

"Dare me if you want." She closed her eyes and then heard a sharp intake of breath before Lee actually did something that she wouldn't even expect him to do in a million years.

"TENTEN AND NEJI SITTING ON A TREE K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" he trilled on the top of his lungs.

Neji and Tenten, though in two different places, blushed scarlet and out came a vein popping on their heads at the exact same time. The young Hyuuga felt the impulse to do his 64 strikes jutsu on him. Tenten, on the other hand, although less lethal—but lethal nonetheless—felt her eyes twitch once... twice; her grip on her scrolls getting tighter and tighter and...

Boom.

Neji had no choice but to follow them around, leaving the torture-him task to his ever reliable teammate.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY!" Tenten's yell scared the hell out of Lee.

Seconds later, she was already chasing a supposedly crippled Rock Lee as he made a mad dash towards the village for the sake of his very life. As they say, enraging someone as calm as Tenten would somehow result to the devastation of the world—or HIS world for this matter—and with those weapons being thrown blindly at him; he knew he had to hide somewhere safe— like a metal box locked by Tsunade-sama herself with a few sealing jutsus to keep her and her kunai away. Otherwise, he'd find himself as her favorite moving target throughout the span of his miserable life if word leaked that Neji and Tenten was actually doing the stuff he said.

"AND IF I EVER HEAR YOU SAY THAT AGAIN," shouted Tenten as Lee continued his dash for the village, "I SWEAR I'M GOING TO SKEWER YOU WITH A SHARPENED _POLE_!" she decided to spare him anyway... for now at least.

Neji halted on a tree branch, eyes still on Tenten's form with a thousand thoughts swirling across his brain. He didn't know what to think about what he just witnessed as it all came too suspiciously for his taste. However, as he witnessed the few drops of rain fall down on her cheeks, something tugged within him.

"I'm not lying at all about the denial part, Lee. And it really goes the other way around..." He heard her say, "Because... I don't like Hyuuga Neji."

Neji stared some more; feeling a painful pang on his chest upon hearing her words. It awfully felt like somebody poured a bucket of cold water over him and he couldn't do anything about it other than feel a surge of... disappointment. It was weird—really weird, and his conscience was somehow nagging him about a thing or two that he knew all too well but was only... at the stage of denial... to even acknowledge the blindingly obvious fact.

The fact that he really had a thing for his only sane teammate after all this time...

He followed her as she retraced her path calmly, bending down to pick up the scattered weapons on the ground with that unusual smile lighting her drenched form under the rain. "There's no point denying it at all because, obviously..." She said again; followed by a brief moment of silence before she spoke the words that almost caused him to lose his nerves, "I am as guilty as Hinata-chan was with that Kyuubi boy."

For the first time in his life, Neji didn't know what to do and how to react.

* * *

Feedbacks are as welcome as drops of rain in times of drought.

**A/N:** Eh... First Naruto fic. First NejiTen fic. Must've exaggerated Lee a little but what the hell... he's more exaggerated in other fictions and he's also exaggerated in his own little way anyway. Not to mention, I like him that way. He's funny with Gai. C3 Criticisms and honest opinions are welcome.


	2. Chapter 2

**The Byakugan Introspection  
**Kriste-chan

**Disclaimer:** Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto. I only own my brain and this plot. Unfortunately.

Feedbacks are as welcome as drops of rain in times of drought.  
This is my gift for those who reviewed.

* * *

Tenten, as she closed her apartment's door with a barely audible click and an eardrum-shattering slam, was dripping wet with a deadly scowl on her face. It was an extremely deadly scowl that suggested an armory of melee weapons aimed to hurl at anyone who even dare make a comment, so be warned. 

But anyway, as good natured as she really was, Tenten had been thoroughly convincing herself that getting soaked under the rain was healthy for one's immune system— all for the sake of avoiding bloodshed. Her day had been utterly horrendous beyond comparison for several reasons, including boredom likened to the tremors you get on a D-class mission and then there's the storm which, in her own reckoning, was like a down-pour of senbon piercing your skin. It's not that she didn't like the rain. Au contraire, she loved it; she didn't mind the drizzle it poured during the first few hours of the afternoon, adding a steady pitter-patter of peace around the tree-laden area where she almost killed Lee; but what she especially loathed was the fact that it really had to pour down when she was about to go home and rest...

It seemed nature had conspired against her life today for the sake of making it utterly miserable.

She finally decided that what she really needed now was an hour or two of hot shower in the bathroom, a steaming mug of chocolate to warm her stomach and a sleep from today's activities. She was so damn tired, she couldn't care anymore if her clothes were wet, or if she was shivering or— what the hell, she just wanted to plop down on her bed and sleep like the dead for hours...

And sleep like the dead she did, by the time her pillow came within sight.

Now, if only her senses weren't clouded by the fact that Konoha was safe and sound, she would've noticed someone looming near her doorway with a placid emotionless look that gradually morphed into an all-out frown.

Hyuuga Neji didn't like what he saw with his Byakugan. It was clearly reckless of her to ignore the outcome of not changing damped clothes before sleeping. Even after years of training with his teammate, he still was getting used to the fact that she was ten times as stubborn as ever and ten times the multiples of ten as... interesting as ever. Not that he was worried or anything; he knew she was as strong as a bull so there was no problem about that at all...

Neji glared at the innocent door knob as a thought occurred. Even bulls have weaknesses and they can also suffer from common cold...

Well, okay. He was worried about his teammate.

Her immune system might be working well enough— which was a good sign that she still doesn't need a stick to walk around— but the thing that made Neji's left eye twitch was waiting for a minute without her doing anything about her case. He glared at the door again with an intensity enough to burn it down and decided, without hesitation, to barge in.

The door wasn't locked.

His frown deepened. That was a little too careless for a kunoichi. She could've been a target of some assassin or she could've been invaded by one of those fan boys in her room and then, God knows what those perverted maniacs may do! He set his jaw firmly. One of the few good traits of Neji, as he had always believed, was that he somehow manages to stay calm in every scenario. But swear to Kami-sama he'd make them pay this instant if those idiots even_ dare_ think they could touch Tenten— and he wasn't thinking about giving them a black-eye for compensation, his reason being it's too... merciful for the likes of him. He had all the intention of letting everyone in Konoha know that _nobody_ gets to Tenten without going through _him_ first.

He shook his head, closed the door, ransacked her closet for a white towel and went towards her sleeping form; glowering over like a tower before tapping her lightly.

She didn't even stir.

He sighed and sat near the edge of the bed, leaning in forward to get closer. "Tenten?" he called out, gently.

She still didn't stir.

Neji was determined to try again though; no matter how bad he really was with stuff like this. He was never someone who would easily give up anyway. "Wake up."

Still no response.

A vein finally threatened to pop out of Neji's forehead. "If you don't wake up, I swear, I'm going to drag you out of bed and change your clothes myself." an empty threat that managed to make him turn an interesting shade of red.

Good thing she still didn't stir.

Sighing to himself once more, Neji stared at Tenten's peacefully slumbering form for a while, taking in every line and curve on her face and the way that her bangs fell on her forehead. This image was in and of itself, against the images he had of her as someone who was completely strong-willed and was apt to punch someone when terribly worried. She looked, every inch, like a defenseless little angel; and then, he suddenly felt the tiniest urge to touch her face. He had seen her sleep like this more than dozens of times before and in every instance, the urge to do exactly that was getting stronger and stronger. His brain was still processing the thought when he realized that his hands had already moved to her face; stroking the back of it against the smoothness of her cheeks with undue lightness, as if she was something fragile and breakable...

And then, she finally stirred, lighting a small smile on her lips with her creased brows easing to relax. "Ne...ji..." she whispered.

Neji... let out a shaky breath that he didn't even realize he was holding back. His resolve in waking her up wavered a bit since she looked so peaceful it almost seemed cruel of him to disturb her. The more rational part of his brain was dictating otherwise; if he didn't wake her up, Tenten would get ill and he would most likely end up with Lee for a few days, stuck in training. The thought certainly wasn't appealing in and of itself, so he rested his hands as gently as he could on her shoulder and then shook her lightly to consciousness. "Tenten...?"

She groggily opened her eyes. "Oh..." she closed it again, "Hi Neji..."

It took her three seconds to process this. And when she finally did, her eyes bugged out; pulling her self to sit up straight and blink at him.

Neji's face remained placid.

Then, she frowned at him, "What the hell are you doing here?" she asked, severely.

"I think that should've been obvious by now." He answered, flatly; making sure that the towel was visible to her eyes. What he told her wasn't entirely a lie, but there was just something in her today that made him consider the thought of pissing her off. He didn't want to admit it out loud but, honestly, he certainly found pleasure in making her seemingly unruffled toughness go cat-eyed and irritated.

And she obliged his whim, "Hyuuga Neji..." she paused to inhale sharply, "Get—"

She sneezed.

He smirked.

She frowned.

His smirk deepened. "Here." He stood up and handed her the towel; gaze nailed on her apartment's floor as if it was suddenly the most interesting thing in the world. "Dry yourself before it gets worse..."

She could only blink at him and at the towel, simultaneously; profusely wondering if this was the aftermath of a year in a Jounin mission. She really didn't know. She couldn't decide. Her thoughts were merely landing on the idea that she was still asleep and this was all part of a dream.

Neji waited, looking extremely uncomfortable by the minute, while Tenten blinked and wondered some more.

_Was he sick?_

"Take it." He said, trying with an effort to control any extra amount of blood rushing up to his face. When he realized that Tenten wouldn't move for at least a minute more, he decided to just dump the stupid towel on her head. "Fix yourself. Now." And that, in Neji's tone, implied an order.

The action must've, finally, woken her up since her hand abruptly reached for the towel and moved it around to dry her face. Then, she peeked out of the towel with a strange look. "Good afternoon, Neji."

Neji opted for nodding as his neutral reply. It was like him anyway and it sort of removed the option of opening a topic to excuse himself from barging into her territory. In the first place, he couldn't just tell her it was his impulse that drove him to follow her from the forest up to her home. No, he couldn't do that. It would give away the fact that he actually overheard their conversation; and doing so would risk the closeness that they've established since their Genin days. He couldn't risk something as important as that was.

In whatever angle you try to picture it, Tenten will always be... special to him in every way and he would gladly crack the skull of anyone who would even dare lay a finger on her.

"So..." casually put, but she still deprived him the comfort of waiting. "Mind explaining the nature of your intrusion?" From the looks of things, Tenten was critically scrutinizing every line etched on his face. He looked... entirely tensed, which was surprising since this was, after all, the only and first time that she had _ever_ seen him act... weird under normal situations. And tension was an unusual thing for the unfazed Hyuuga Neji since originally, nothing could trouble this guy.

Well, that was until now, at least.

When Tenten heard him coughing, she immediately took that as her second clue. Neji never even coughed in that manner except if he was severely injured or he somehow acquired pathogens— which she often thought was even scared of getting within fifty feet of his diameter. Add that to the fact that Hyuuga Neji never coughed uncomfortably with a blush instead of his normal—

Blush?

Was he even capable of blushing?

She blinked and looked at Neji carefully as if he grew another head. "Oi..." she said, "Are you feeling well?"

It shows that she really was worried, but you know Neji. No matter how the situation went, he's always determined to abide by the rules he set up for himself. And rule number one was to radiate an air of superiority and confidence at all times. "I was going to ask you out."

Tenten concluded that he really was turning an interesting shade of pink. She let him slip through it though; rerunning his words in her brain to process its meaning and then abruptly smiled before loosening the buns on her head. "Don't tell me you woke me up for training." She glared daggers at him. "And you just got discharged from the hospital so I don't think you're entitled to any brisk movement or chakra usage."

"..." replied Neji. He just couldn't get it if she was toying with him or he just didn't realize how dense Tenten really was until now. "Actually, I woke you up because I was worried about you getting sick."

That, sort of, caught her off guard. "Wow..." she smiled at him, "I didn't know you cared."

"Of course I do." He immediately snapped, "I don't want to end up stuck with Lee during training."

And that, sort of, sent her soaring happiness plummeting down the ground with an unhealthy sounding thud. "I thought so..." she mumbled. The inner Tenten, however, was fuming with irritation and was already weighing decisions between wanting to pound Neji with a sledgehammer and performing acupuncture on him with a set of kunai as a replacement for specialized acupuncture needles. "Well anyway," She opted for civilized conversation instead. "Sorry Neji. I just got out of training today and I'm dead beat." she smiled brightly at him, "And I think you could use some rest too after your mission in the Sound Village, ne?" She said, "How did it turn out anyway? You were either unconscious or sleeping whenever I come for a visit."

Neji, plainly, looked at her. Obviously, the Godaime Hokage-sama wasn't joking when she had told them a year ago that the assigned A-class mission could be elevated into an S-class mission fit for the ANBU. There were still a lot of crazy lunatics out there running around to conquer Konoha like the dead Orochimaru had; so he guessed everything was inevitable. "The important thing is everyone got out alive."

She considered this for a while; then, perked up. "I guess." She said and then proceeded to untying the buns on her head until it all fell down on her back, "Lee was worried sick and he was already blabbering something about not being able to assist your 'valiantly courageous yet wavering flame of youth in heavy battle' when you need it most." She smirked at him.

Neji shrugged. "Plausible." He said. "What about you?" he was fighting the urge to sound desperate in hearing her woes.

"Me?" She stopped drying her head to peek out of the towel once more. Neji was never someone who usually cared about what she thinks. "More or less the same..." she shrugged nonchalantly and continued drying her head to hide a smile. "But leave the 'flame of youth' thing to Lee. There's no way in hell are you going to hear that out of my mouth."

Tenten felt him raise an inquisitive eyebrow.

"Hmm... I think I prefer: Tenten was worried sick and she was already blabbering something about not being able to assist your sorry ass in heavy battle when you need it most…" she looked thoughtful for a while, and then nodded approvingly, "Yeah... that would do."

Her tough-girl... preference made Neji frown. Regardless of how beat he was on that mission, bordering on getting owned himself, he still managed to kick those idiots' asses to death by a millimeter of chakra advantage. It was known throughout Konoha that Neji Hyuuga doesn't consider failure as an option because for one, his pride was at stake; number two, he IS a genius and was therefore obligated to live up to that standard; number three, he still has a lot of unfinished businesses to take care of to even pass out on his life at an early age; and number four, the lady sitting right across him with an apparently wide grin that shamed Naruto's WAS one of his unfinished businesses.

And she's only "worried sick" about him? The thought made Neji frown harder. For heaven's sake, he's worried to death about her getting sick, what kind of injustice was this? "Hmph." Replied Neji; arms crossed on his chest and gaze directed heatedly at the wall, it almost burned through it. He was severely hurt by her cruel lack of trust in his abilities all because of that damned mission!

"But I would be lying if I said that."

His head snapped back at her. "What?" he's not sure he heard it right.

Tenten smiled sweetly at him before abruptly jumping out of bed. "Nothing..." and then a grin was plastered on her face when she had her back facing him already. "If you could spare me ten minutes, I'll offer you a mug of chocolate... It's still raining outside and I don't think you have an umbrella with you." Then, she suddenly frowned, speaking more to herself while retrieving something out of the closet. "And even if you have, I bet you would most likely prefer to walk around without utilizing its purpose."

And it was then did she feel warm pressure surrounding her wrist; taking her by surprise. How he managed to get this close without her sensing his movements, she couldn't quite figure out. Tenten was now only aware of the gentle-kind of force that he was exerting to pull her closer and, surprisingly, she deemed it unnecessary to turn around to see the expression on his face. She _felt_ it, if that was ever possible. And seriously, she didn't mean to utter her umbrella-comment out loud for him to hear but long before she realized what was going on, she had bumped on his chest already.

She looked up at him, blinking.

He looked down on her, placidly; his usually blank eyes were unusually speaking in volumes.

After knowing him for years and years, Tenten figured that the expression on his face wasn't reducing her uneasiness— even by a puny point zero raised to the negative nth power millimeter. Butterflies began its merry flight round and around her chest which, Tenten felt the need to swat away with a mosquito swatter. "Need anything?" she almost choked on her words.

After a brief three seconds of silence, Neji let out a calculated sigh. "I believe you misunderstood my statement."

"Er... what do you mean by that?" she wasn't originally always half-witted when faced with situations like this. Tenten wasn't vain but she knew she was unbelievably cute enough to net the hearts of men around the block if they weren't too intimidated by her shinobi skills. The problem now was, any situation— especially situations like this— with a guy named Hyuuga Neji, was far beyond the calling of "normalcy" all for the sake of a dictionary's honor in and of itself. She blamed the disappearing gap between them. His closing proximity was reaching the brink of thoroughly and detrimentally sending her senses off to near silliness; and she wasn't the thirteen-year-old Tenten who was only vaguely aware of how nice his scent was. At the age of twenty-five, she was more than aware of how his scent screamed tales of his "yummy-ness", and it certainly wasn't helping in the annihilation of butterflies that suddenly infested her chest— even for a bit!

"I'm asking you out."

She blinked at him, "But... I'm..." she suddenly stopped and groaned, refusing to be caught off-guard, "I'm a little out of chakra to be of complete use in a spar, Neji... and you're not completely healed yet and... and Tsuande-sama might reprimand you for—"

Neji rolled his eyes. "Who says anything about training?"

She blinked at him blankly. "You mean, you weren't asking me out for a spar?"

"I'm asking you out on a date."

She blinked at him again, blankly; opening her mouth to say something but decided to shut her mouth long before the words eased out instead. Then, her forehead creased.

Neji stared at her with a frown. "What is it now?"

She mirrored his frown. "But it's raining." Her frown, eventually, deepened at an afterthought. "And according to Tsunade-sama, you _need _to rest."

"Who cares about what she says..."

He received a glare.

Neji sighed dejectedly. "Well she didn't order me to stay in bed until I fully recover, did she?" he reasoned, "and besides, we don't have to go out literary and risk our health for the sake of having fun." Well, he could be persistent when he wanted something. And as if on cue, she sneezed again. Neji had anticipated that effect ever since the moment he realized it was really pouring cats and dogs— and she was under it and she was actually planning to sleep with those wet clothes on. If only he didn't know any better, he may as well conclude that she was planning to kill herself with pneumonia. "Spare me the thought of worrying." He frowned.

Tenten sweatdropped. The words "Neji" and "fun" coming together was extremely out of this world in her opinion; but anyway, she was extremely moved by his sudden outburst of emotions. It was uncharacteristic of him, but she was really touched by his willingness to lay down his cool, suave and unfeeling shell for her sake. Even for once, he had somehow made her feel... special. "Hmm..." she said, a little too thoughtfully, "I guess the weather has its effects on you, huh?"

Neji simply stared at her and entertained the urge to tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "Will I take that as a yes?"

She smiled at him, "You make the call for deliveries and I'll see what we can watch after I dry myself."

Several hours, an order of delivered food and two movies later, "draped over each other" was the appropriate term for descriptions.

* * *

**_The Byakugan Introspection  
_**_Sometimes, eavesdropping can lead to good things...

* * *

"Neji?" _

"Hm?"

"You were talking about the things you should do on first dates?"

"Uh... well, according to Kakashi-sensei, kissing is almost a prerequisite to informing someone that your feelings for each other are mutual... in a date... then he mumbled something about how I should read a well-recommended book by Jiraiya-sama, and then slacked off with that orange book in his hands again..."

"... And you actually _believed _what those two said?"

"..."

"Neji...?"

"... Only if you would approve, I suppose..."

_And that's all there was until the door opened with a deafening slam..._

"NEJI-KUN! TENTEN-CHAN! I'm glad to see that you both are finally appreciating love in the springtime of—GAH!"

… _and after a pair of kunai was thrown..._

"OUT!"

_... There wasn't anymore...

* * *

_

SORE NI...!  
(And then...!)

* * *

After the door slammed and the swish-thuck-thuck sound of a pair of kunai hitting the door was heard, Neji and Tenten were suddenly surrounded by a complete comfortable-sense of silence— in a position that can even make Hiashi-sama's nose bleed, irregardless of Lee's appearance in the most uneventful of times, of course. Anyway, there was really something to say about two top-ranked shinobis, in their own rights, experiencing something... nice, other than the thrills of missions, rigorous training and enduring two bowl-headed teammates tightly engaged in their usual ramblings of youth power. Generally, they were draped over each other and the couch, in a way that would make the great Hyuuga clan head himself issue an order for Neji to marry Tenten within ten seconds to preserve their clan's honor and dignity. Not that he minded; that's for sure. If it was Tenten, he'd willingly tie the knot anytime, anywhere and have plenty of little Neji-s and Tenten-s running around the lawn. 

"Um... Neji?"

"Hm?" he looked at her, half smiling.

"Where were we again?" She said, tugging on his robe; pulling him closer and closer until their lips were only a point zero-zero raised to the negative nth power nanometer apart.

He allowed a full smile to pass on, "Allow me to remind you..."

The insignificant gap was, finally, nowhere to be seen.

Outside, Lee stood in front of Tenten's door with a proud grin on his face; triumphantly pinning a note. "There!" he exclaimed; walking away from the area while whistling a happy tune. "I never really thought of Neji as someone who would listen to conversations... but I'm glad Tenten hooked him on in a manner that even he wouldn't figure out."

He knew they would kill him if they read the note; but, as he had decided a few minutes ago, bruises and lacerations were nothing compared to the joy of witnessing his teammates "finding and enjoying true love in the springtime of youth".

And the note simply read: _WAIT FOR MATRIMONIAL ENGAGEMENT ANNOUNCEMENTS. DO NOT DISTURB._

.the end. promise. end na talaga.

* * *

**A/N:** The last part made me laugh at my own silliness. Damn. I am such a fan girl. XD XD XD This is something that I wanted to get off my chest XD. Nothing fancy but thinking about how Tenten and Neji would spend their first date if a storm was present... and, well, add Kakashi's influence and Jiraiya's perverted book without Neji actually realizing its content gave me fits. I know. He's not a saint. But I must admit that it WAS an irresistible temptation. Dargh! Thanks for reviewing minna-san! 


End file.
